My turn: The adorable marmot seemed to enjoy getting to grips with the camera in AustriaLife through a lens: The marmots are normally extremely shy, but approached photographer Stefan Meyer's camera for inspection

The 67-year-old from Germany watched on helplessly as the notoriously shy creature approached his camera, stood on its hind legs and looked carefully through the lens.

Stefan quickly grabbed his friend's equipment to capture the moment and was shocked further still as other marmots later joined in the fun.

Normally, when seeing an intruder, a marmot will become defensive and try to warn them off by beating their tail and chattering their teeth.

Group shot: These three cute marmot decided to huddle around the camera equipment for a closer look

Other side of the lens: Marmots like the ones seen in Austria can reach up to 50cm in length

They will then emit a series of loud whistles to members of their colony to encourage them to run for cover.

Bizarrely, the animals are heavier in the autumn, when they can weigh up to 8kg, in comparison to 3kg in the spring months.